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c t i c e
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Competitions STUDENT’S NAME:
and Assessments
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Read the instructions on the ANSWER SHEET and fill in your

NAME, SCHOOL and OTHER INFORMATION.
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You MUST record your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.

Mark only ONE answer for each question.

ENGLISH Your score will be the number of correct answers.
Marks are NOT deducted for incorrect answers.

Use the information provided to choose the BEST answer from

the four possible options.
On your ANSWER SHEET fill in the oval that matches your answer.

Questions may sometimes be placed next to each other.

Make sure you read ACROSS the page and answer the questions
in the correct order.

You are NOT allowed to use a dictionary or an electronic translator.

 Read Old Ginger Nut’s Holiday and answer questions 1 to 8.

Old Ginger Nut’s Holiday

.
at the farm
Here I am
This is Bubble
s.
One Tree Farm
Kangaroo Valley

Dear Mum

Monday said, ‘Come

le ft me at Gr an da d’s I cried. Grandad
When yo u
ut . Dr y th os e te ar s and let’s see if Aunty
on, Old Ginger N I don’t like being calle
d ‘Old
s go t ou r te a re ad y.’
Irene ha
come home.
Ginger Nut’! I want to

Tuesday d licked me all over. Au

nty
ma de su ch a fu ss an
Bubbles fleas. Grandad
en e to ld me no t to cuddle him as he had to get
Ir
w fle as ne ve r hu rt anybody.’ I don’t want
said, ‘A fe
home.
fleas. I wish I was at

Wednesday ene collect eggs I fo

und a
wa s he lp in g Au nt y Ir
When I ’re a rotten
t’s ne st . Gr an da d sa id, ‘Rotten pests, they
ra .
t rat when I get home
nuisance!’ I’d like a pe

Thursday ternoon but

d to ok me fis hi ng in the creek this af
Gr an da e’ll have
ca tc h an y fis h. Gr andad kept saying, ‘W
we didn ’t ene cooked
h as bi g as a wh ale in a minute.’ Aunty Ir
a fis
fo r te a. I wi sh we had a creek at home.
fish finge rs

Friday re bees
e ha d a pi cn ic to da y. All we could hear we ter next
W going to be a lot quie
Gr an da d sa id , ‘It ’s
buzzing. ene says I’d
ou t yo u bu zz ing around!’ Aunty Ir
we ek wi th at it home.
po st th is le tt er to day; otherwise I’ll be
better
Ginger Nut.
Lots of love from Old
nt
ay here a lit tle longer. I don’t wa
P.S. PLEASE let me st
to come home yet.

ICAS English Practice Questions Paper A © EAA 2

 1. Who wrote this letter?

(A) Grandad
(B) Aunty Irene
(C) Old Ginger Nut
(D) Old Ginger Nut’s mum

2. The word ‘pests’ is used to describe things which are

(A) ugly.
(B) dirty.
(C) dangerous.
(D) troublesome.

3. When Old Ginger Nut says ‘I’d like a pet rat’, the contraction ‘I’d’ is made up
of the words

(A) I did.
(B) I had.
(C) I could.
(D) I would.

4. When Grandad says, ‘It’s going to be a lot quieter here next week without you buzzing
around!’, he means

(A) ‘Your constant noise keeps me as busy as a bee.’

(B) ‘I’ll miss you when you’re not here next week.’
(C) ‘You’re so noisy I can’t wait for you to go home.’
(D) ‘I’ll be able to work harder on the farm when you go.’

5.  n which day does the reader first notice a change in Old Ginger Nut’s feelings about
O
staying with his grandfather?

(A) Monday
(B) Tuesday
(C) Wednesday
(D) Friday

6. Why are the words ‘Monday’ to ‘Friday’ written in CAPITAL LETTERS?

(A) They are days of the week.

(B) They are subheadings in the letter.
(C) Old Ginger Nut is angry with his mother.
(D) The writer wants to highlight important information.

3 ICAS English Practice Questions Paper A © EAA

 7. Put these pictures into the correct order to show what Old Ginger Nut did during the week.

The correct order for the pictures is

(A) 4, 2, 1, 3
(B) 2, 4, 3, 1
(C) 3, 2, 1, 4
(D) 2, 3, 4, 1

8. If Old Ginger Nut wrote a story about his holiday, the best title would be

(A) Holidays with Mum.

(B) Helping Aunty Irene.
(C) Fishing with Grandad.
(D) My Time at Grandad’s.

For questions 9 and 10 choose the best option.

9. Choose the sentence which is PUNCTUATED CORRECTLY.

(A) The shaggy brown dog chased Michael’s cat up into the tree.
(B) The shaggy brown, dog chased Michael’s cat up into the tree.
(C) The shaggy brown dog chased Michaels’ cat up into the tree.
(D) The shaggy, brown, dog chased Michaels’ cat up into the tree.

10. Lynette is very caring. She always thinks about other people.

Which of the following words describes Lynette?

(A) patient
(B) reliable
(C) considerate
(D) independent

ICAS English Practice Questions Paper A © EAA 4

 this page is meant to be blank.

5 ICAS English Practice Questions Paper A © EAA

Acknowledgment
Copyright in this booklet is owned by Educational
Assessment Australia, UNSW Global Pty Limited, unless
otherwise indicated. Every effort has been made to trace and
acknowledge copyright. Educational Assessment Australia
apologises for any accidental infringement and welcomes
information to redress the situation.

Sources
“Old Ginger Nut’s Holiday” text, images and graphics © EAA
2006.

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 Paper

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Inter national
Competitions
and Assessments THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
for Schools

HOW TO FILL OUT THIS SHEET:

EXAMPLE 1: Debbie Bach EXAMPLE 2: Chan Ai Beng EXAMPLE 3: Jamal bin Abas
FIRST NAME LAST NAME FIRST NAME LAST NAME FIRST NAME LAST NAME
• Rub out all mistakes completely.
• Print your details clearly A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A
in the boxes provided. B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C
• Make sure you fill in only D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
one oval in each column.

FIRST NAME to appear on certificate LAST NAME to appear on certificate

A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A

B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B

S
C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C

N
D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E

I O
F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F F

G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G

T
H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H

S
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

E
J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J J

K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

U
L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L

Q
M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M

N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N

E
O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P

I C
Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q

R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

T
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S

C
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T

A
U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

R
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W

P
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z

’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

DATE OF BIRTH CLASS

Day Month Year (optional)

Are you male or female?

Male Female *046003* 0

1
0

1
0

1
0

1
0

1
0

1
A

B
K

Does anyone in your home usually speak a language other than English? 2 2 2 2 2 C M

Yes No 3 3 3 3 3 D N

4 4 4 4 E O

School name: 5 5 5 5 F P

6 6 6 6 G Q

Town / suburb: 7 7 7 7 H R

8 8 8 8 I S

Today’s date: Postcode: 9 9 9 9 J T

TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

Example:
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the underlined word.

I want you to give this important matter prompt attention.

(A) quiet Immediate is the word closest in meaning to prompt in this

(B) careful sentence, so you would fill in the oval ,
C as shown.
(C) immediate
A B C D
(D) deliberate

START
1 A B C D

2 A B C D

3 A B C D

4 A B C D

5 A B C D

6 A B C D

7 A B C D

8 A B C D

9 A B C D

10 A B C D

Paper

a E
Inter national
Competitions
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 LEVEL OF
QUESTION KEY DESCRIPTION OF SKILL AREA
DIFFICULTY
Interpret information in a personal recount to identify
1 C RL Easy
the writer
2 D Infer the meaning of a word: pests VOC Medium

3 D Identify the parts of contraction in a personal recount SYN Easy

Interpret the meaning of an idiomatic expression in a

4 B VOC Medium
personal recount
Identify the change in the writer’s tone in a personal
5 C RL Medium/Hard
recount

6 B Identify the use of capital letters for subheadings TD Easy

Synthesise a personal recount to sequence a set of

7 B RL Medium/Hard
illustrations
8 D Identify the theme of a personal recount RL Medium
Identify the correct use of list commas and the
9 A SYN Medium
possessive apostrophe
10 C Synthesise a description to identify a character trait VOC Medium

LEGEND

Area refers to the particular curriculum area or strand assessed by the question.

RL Reading – Literary questions which require students to comprehend and interpret texts such as
stories, poems, extracts from novels, reviews, plays

RF Reading – Factual questions which require students to understand and interpret information
and argument texts, including texts which incorporate diagrams, tables
and images from a range of curriculum areas, e.g. reports, editorials,
advertisements, explanations

TD Textual devices questions which require students to recognise and to interpret textual
devices which include figurative and rhetorical language (e.g. metaphor,
rhetorical question, pun) and text conventions (e.g. use of different font sizes
and types, captions)

SYN Syntax questions about accuracy and clarity within sentences or texts (e.g. pronoun
reference, tense) and the recognition of grammatical terms (e.g. noun, main
clause)

VOC Vocabulary questions about the meaning of words or phrases

ICAS English Practice Questions Paper A © EAA

 Level of difficulty refers to the expected level of difficulty for the question.

Easy more than 70% of candidates will choose the correct option

Medium about 50–70% of candidates will choose the correct option

Medium/Hard about 30–50% of candidates will choose the correct option

Hard less than 30% of candidates will choose the correct option

ICAS English Practice Questions Paper A © EAA